ProJazz.net

Seven Steps to Heaven is a studio album by Miles Davis. It was released through Columbia Records on July 15, 1963.

Reception

AllMusic review by Rovi Staff awarded the album 4.5 stars and stated:”Seven Steps to Heaven finds Miles Davis standing yet again on the fault line between stylistic epochs. In early 1963, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb left to form their own trio, and Davis was forced to form a new band, which included Memphis tenor player George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. When Davis next entered the studio in Hollywood, he added local drummer Frank Butler and British studio ace Victor Feldman, who ultimately decided not to go on the road with Davis. It’s easy to see why Davis liked Feldman, who contributed the dancing title tune and “Joshua” to the session. On three mellifluous standards — particularly a cerebral “Basin Street Blues” and a broken-hearted “I Fall in Love Too Easily” — the pianist plays with an elegant, refined touch, and the kind of rarefied voicings that suggest Ahmad Jamal. Davis responds with some of his most introspective, romantic ballad playing. When Davis returned to New York he finally succeeded in spiriting away a brilliantly gifted 17-year-old drummer from Jackie McLean: Tony Williams. On the title tune you can already hear the difference, as his crisp, driving cymbal beat and jittery, aggressive syncopations propel Davis into the upper reaches of his horn. On “So Near, So Far” the drummer combines with Carter and new pianist Herbie Hancock to expand on a light Afro-Cuban beat with a series of telepathic changes in tempo, texture, and dynamics. Meanwhile, Feldman’s “Joshua” (with its overtones of “So What” and “All Blues”) portends the kind of expressive variations on the basic 4/4 pulse that would become the band’s trademark, as Davis and Coleman ascend into bebop heaven.”.

Track listing:
1. “Basin Street Blues” Spencer Williams 10:29
2. “Seven Steps to Heaven” Victor Feldman, Miles Davis 6:26
3. “I Fall in Love Too Easily” Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn 6:46
4. “So Near, So Far” Tony Crombie, Benny Green 6:59
5. “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home” Clarence Williams, Charles Warfield 8:28
6. “Joshua” Victor Feldman 7:00
7. “So Near, So Far” (alternative version) Tony Crombie, Benny Green 5:11
8. “Summer Night” Harry Warren, Al Dubin 6:02

Personnel:
Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7 & 8 – recorded in Hollywood on April 16 or 17, 1963

Miles Davis – trumpet
George Coleman – tenor saxophone
Victor Feldman – piano
Ron Carter – bass
Frank Butler – drums

Tracks 2, 4 & 6 – recorded in New York on May 14, 1963

Miles Davis – trumpet
George Coleman – tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock – piano
Ron Carter – bass
Tony Williams – drums

_______________

Released: July 15, 1963
Recorded: April 16–17, 1963 (#1, 3, 5);May 14, 1963 (#2, 4, 6)
Studio:
Columbia (Hollywood)Columbia 30th Street (New York City)
Length: 46:08
Label: Columbia
CL 2051
CS 8851
Producer: Teo Macero